Building material



1932- R. w. B. READE 1,872,186.

BUILDING MATERIAL Filed Dec. 2, 1930 l 7 I Hum W5! Ps/ws 11v VENTOR WayA TTORNEY Patented Aug. 16,. 1932 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH W.B. READE, OF NEWTON CENTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGKOB TO THE PATENT ANDLICENSING CORPORATION, OF BOSTON,.HASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF"MASSACHUSETTS BUILDING MATERIAL Application filed December a, 1930.Serial No. 499,47e.

composed of a felted fabric, saturated'with a waterproofing materialsuch as bitumen or asphalt and coated on one or both sides with m alayer of blown asphalt, in which is partially embedded a surfacing layerof comminuted granular material,vsuch as crushed slate or the like.

The square butt shingle that may be used for this purpose comprises abody that has at one end thereof a series of pro ections or 'tabs spacedfrom each other by means of slots or recesses. The surfacing material isapplied in such a way that when these strips are laid in successiveoverlapping courses,

they will simulate a brick wall having broken mortar joints. The mortarjoint simulation has a width substantially ual to that of a slot in thestrips and comp etely surrounds each brick simulating area and in orderthat the finished surface all closely simulate the appearance of a brickwall, it is essential that the mortar joint simulations between thesuccessive courses be of uniform width throughout the length of the wallof the structure.

Thus it is evident that each strip must be placed at a certain, fixedposition in order to properly locate the strips so that the desiredeffect is secured.

In the practical application of these strips, considerable difiicultyisencountered in properly aligning the successive courses to secure thedesired brick-simulating effect. This is due to. the flexible andpliable nature of the material which makes it exceedingly diflicult forthe workman to hold the strip in proper position during the nailingoperation to ensure that after the nails are driven home, the lower ed eof the strips will be in the position, in re ation to the precedingcourse,-

necessary to simulate accurately a horizontal, uniform and unbrokenmortar joint between the courses. This difliculty is aggravated by thefact thatthese strips are generally made in lengths from thirty to fortyor more inches and it is very troublesome for the workman to hold thesestrips in proper position on a vertical surface during the nailingoperation.

The object of the present invention is to provide a shingle stripconstruction adapted to o'vercome the above objections and this, broadlystated, is accomplished by employing indicating means on the strips, tofacilitate handling thereof in applying them to a vertical wall withoutundue loss of time by the workman.

When shingle strips embodying my invention are used to secure a coveringto the side walls of a building, the first course is laid in the usualmanner. Subsequently the applicator lpivots a strip, that is to form aportion oft e next succeeding course, at a position where the indicatingmeans of the strip of the first course is in registrywith that of thestrip of the second course. The strip of the second course is now swungabout the pivot until it is in the desired horizontal position and isthen fastened at any convenient points. v

Thus, these marked shingle strips together with the novel method ofapplication afiord a very simple, expeditious, inexpensive andfool-proof method of laying shingle strips whereby the configuration ofthe covering is predetermined and exact.

With the aforementiond objects in view, this invention consistsgenerally of a shingle strip marked or formed with indicia for thepurpose described and a novel method of laying the same as will be fullydescribed and illustrated in the following specification and in thedrawing, in which:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of the shingle strip embodying myinvention;

Figure 2 represents a section of the finished covering;

-Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of Figure 2 and Fi re 4illustrates in plan view one method 0 applying the shingle strips to thewall.

As shown the strip comprises a head or upper portion 11 and a lower orexposed portion 12 having a series of spaced slots 13 extendingtransversel thereof, to provide projections or tabs, with the upperedges 14 of the slots defining the exposed limit of the stri s.

It? will be understood that these strips will preferably be formed froma sheet of felt, saturated with a waterproofing compound and coated onone or both faces with a layer of waterproofing material, "such as hlghmelting point blown asphalt. The upper or exposed face of the strips hassuitable surfacing material partially embedded. in the coatin layer onthis face and in accordance with the preferred embodiment of thisinvention, coarse slate or slag of red or other brick color is appliedto the tabs and covers the same to a distance slightly below the upperedges 14 of the slots. The remaining area of the strip is surfaced witha black colored 't preferably of much finer mesh than the i' ick coloredsurfacing grit on the tabs. By referring to Figure 1, it will be clearthat the surfacing material 1s thus divided into two zones of distinctlycontrasting colors, with a line of demarcation 15 between the two zoneswhich lies a slight distance below the upper ends of the slots. Whenthese strips are employed as brick simulating siding, it is essentialthat the line of demarcation between the brick colored areas on the tabsand the dark colored area on the remainder of the strip shall extendprecisely parallel to the butt edge of the strip, so that when thestrips are laid in overlapping courses, with their butt edges inregistry with the tops of the slots in the stri of the next precedingcourse, the dark co ored mineral surfacing of said strips on the nextpreceding course will present the appearance of a horizontal mortar linealong the lower borders of the brick simulating tabs.

In order that these strips may be rapidly applied and nailed in placewith the assurance that the horizontal mortar simulating lines betweensuccessive courses shall be of uniform and unvarying width, the head ofeach strip is formed with a plurality of markings or indicia shown at 16and 17 with the markings or indicia 16 located at predeterminedpositions in the upper portion of strip that is lapped by the nextsucceeding course. The markings or indicia 17 are also arranged on thatportion of the strip that is lapped by the next succeeding course andare located in predetermined positions thereon, such that when one stripis laid on the other, the marln'ngs 17 of the upper strip will be inregistry with the markings 16 of the preceding strip. These markings orindicia may be in the form of a depression, projection, hole or the likeand further are preferably located near each end of the strips so thatthe applicator may lay the strips from left to right or vice versa.

The novel method of laying the strips embodying my invention consists inlaying the first course in the usual manner, subsequent- 1y pivoting astrip of the next succeeding course, which may be held so that its ma oraxis extends in a vertical direction, by driv- The strip is then swungabout said nail 18 as a pivot until the other marking 17 of the upperstrip is in registry with the other marking 16 of the preceding or lowerstrip, or until the lower ends of the tabs are in re '5- try with theupper edges of the slots. A or the horizontal position of the strip isattained by following either of the methods above set forth the strip isnailed at any convenient points in the customary manner. This process iscontinued until the covering is complete.

It is to be understood, however, that the position of the marking orindicating means although predetermined may vary on the strips dependingon the various designs to be attained and the particular type of stripsused. The square butt strips hereinbefore referred to and described indetail, and the particular method of laying these strips so that a.brick, mortar joint simulating covering may be produced is given by wayof illustration and is not by any means to be construed by way oflimitation.

I claim as my invention:

1. A shingle strip adapted to be laid in successive overlapping courseswith its major axis hor ontal, said strip having indicating meansthereon, said means being located at such redetermined positions on thestri that w en a nail is driven therethrough while .the major axis ofthe strip is in a vertical direction, and the strip is swung about thenail as an axis to a position with its major axis extending in ahorizontal direction, the lower edge ofsaid strip will be spaced apredetermined distance from the lower edge of the next preceding course.

2. A shingle strip having indicating means thereon, comprising aplurality of perforations in the upper end of the strip, one of saidperforations being adapted to register with another of said perforationsin a superposed strip when the strips are laid in overlapping courses,said perforations being located at such positions that a nail may be.driven through the registering perforations while the major axis of thestrip extends in a vertical direction and the stripswung about the nailas an axis to its final position.

3. A shingle strip adapted to be laid with its major axis horizontalhaving thereon two distinct adjoining differently colored zonesextending in the direction of the major axis with a clear line ofdemarcation 'where said zones are contiguous, means on said strip solocated as to determine the horizontal and vertical position of thestrip when its major axis extends in a vertical direction and to afforda center when a nail is driven therethrough, so that when the strip isswung to a position with its major axis in a horizontal direction thelower edge of the strip will be located at apredetermined distance fromthe line of demarcation on the next preceding strip.

4. A shingle strip adapted to be laid with its major axis horizontalhaving two distinct adjoining zones of differently colored surfacingmaterial thereon extending in the direction of the major axis, with aclear line of demarcation where said zones are contiguous, pivotindicating means being so located thereon as to determine the verticaland horizontal position of said strip when its major axis extends in avertical direction and to afford a center about which the strip may beswung to a position whereby the lower edge of the strip is located at apredetermined distance .from the line of demarcation on the nextpreceding course. a

5. A shingle strip having a plurality of indicating means in the upperend of-the strip adapted to register with indicating means in asubjacent strip when the strips are laid in overlapping courses, saidfirst mentioned indicating means being located at such positions that anail may be driven through one of said means while the major axis of thestrip extends in a vertical direction and the strip may be swung aboutthe nail as an axis to its final position.

6. A shingle strip having a plurality of indicating means in the upperend thereof, at

least one of said means being adapted to register with a similar meansin a superposed strip when the strips are laid in overlapping coursessaid means being located at such positions that a nail may be driventhrough the registering means while the major axis of the strip extendsin a vertical direction and the strips may be swung about the nail as anaxis to its final position.

Signed at Boston, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusettsthis 28th day of November A. D. 1930.

RALPH W. B. READE-v

